A New Year meet with the Edinburgh University Mountaineering Club in the early 1970’s took me to Ullapool. We did some great hills, but then there was a cold, dull, windy and generally miserable day, and we ended up dividing our time between the pub and a wander around the harbour. The fishing boats were in, and the catch was being unloaded. We could just go back inside when we felt like it; but these guys were stuck with it, having to deliver the goods in all weathers. I first wrote down my thoughts as a blank verse poem, but shortly afterwards converted it to this song.
It’s sung unaccompanied, unusually for me; but in this instance it perhaps emphasises the hardships faced by the men. Whether they are miners, farm workers, fishermen, serving soldiers - these are surely among the real heroes. |
